The Voiceless Duchess - Chapter 11
Chapter 11
ED: Mango
“…At first, it was a mistake.”
Why wasn’t she surprised by his excuse? Lohengrin regarded him with icy eyes, her disdain unhidden.
“Reneé was a budding artist, and I couldn’t bring myself to hinder her future by burdening her with a child. That’s why I thought it shouldn’t happen.”
Dietrich stole a glance at Lohengrin, sensing an unspoken demand for him to continue. With a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes and stumbled through a convoluted excuse.
“I thought I would just look after him for a year–just one year… and before I knew it, five years had slipped away. I found joy in watching Vincent grow, but at the same time, I felt guilty.”
When he opened his eyes, his expression filled with sorrow as he murmured, “He never received a proper upbringing. He suffered through many illnesses, and I was unable to take him to the hospital or send him to school…”
Lohengrin scoffed, her gaze descending upon him. She had never expected him to feel guilty about his fiancée in the first place, and his feeble excuses struck her as nothing short of ridiculous.
Dietrich’s eyes met Lohengrin’s stern gaze.
You’re just making a fool of yourself, Your Highness.
If you truly intended to take responsibility, you should have confessed the truth to me, quietly ended our engagement, and married that woman. Instead, you appeared out of nowhere and silently demanded to be married to me.
“….”
Dietrich opened and closed his mouth, as if grappling with words that remained unspoken. Lohengrin waited for him with the last bit of patience she had scraped together.
“Breaking off the engagement… it’s not as simple as it sounds, is it? Nordvant will also suffer when we dissolve the engagement.”
But to choose deception? Isn’t that just as fickle?
Dietrich pressed his lips together tightly, his anxiety manifesting in the rhythmic tapping of his thumb against the table. A heavy silence engulfed the room, interrupted only by the scratching of Lohengrin’s pen against the paper.
Of course, Nordvant won’t regret this. But you have no right to choose deceit when I must endure the humiliation of witnessing the child you had with another woman. To be humiliated by Gideon…
Dietrich stood suddenly at the mention of Gideon.
“Don’t you dare insult Gideon! Even if Nordvant won’t regret it, did you think we would? As a mute person who will be tied to Gideon—”
The words caught in Dietrich’s throat as he realized he’d spoken without thinking. His gaze met Lohengrin’s eyes.
Her eyes were calm and chilling with no hint of hesitation.
Dietrich’s hands clenched into fists on the table.
I’m sure that would be someone desperate enough to willingly join hands with Nordvant.
“Nordvant is nothing more than a worn-out and worthless name, stripped of its honor and authority. To put it bluntly, why would any noble from the central region desire you? I know this, and that is precisely why I took your hand.”
He leaned forward on his hands and growled, “But what happened? Before you could properly establish yourself, you lost your voice and couldn’t fulfill your role. What noble in the central region would want you?”
As Dietrich poured forth his scathing criticism, Lohengrin, who had been calmly looking down with a blank expression, smiled.
Well, what can I say? There’s actually a noble in the central region who needs Nordvant’s name.
“You mean…!”
A look of disbelief washed over Dietrich’s face as he realized whom she was referring to. Lohengrin wedged the truth in with a gentle expression.
“Carlisle Wynbergen von Leinmond.”
To secure the Leinmond Duchy, a man of illegitimate birth needed a kind of legitimacy that no one could question. A powerful kind of legitimacy that could rival even Sidus.
And within the Valdrant Empire, and even across the entire Carlome continent, no other person could match Nordvant and its legitimacy. Dietrich’s face flushed a deep crimson shade as he realized this undeniable fact.
“Carlisle Wynbergen, how dare you speak so thoughtlessly… How could anyone like him dare to…?” he grumbled in a low voice, his face contorted in anger.
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